Wroughton

Although sometimes confused with the surname 'Roughton', in fact 'Wroughton' is quite separate, the name deriving from the village in Wiltshire near Marlborough or from residence at a farm (tun) by a winding stream (Olde Norse - hverfr). In the 1086 Domesday Book in the reign of William the Conqueror (1066 - 1087). The village is recorded as 'Wervetone' and in 1242 'Wrftona'. The name development includes George Wroughton who married Elizabeth Oram at St. Katherines by the Tower on November 15th 1697 and James Wraughton, a witness at St. Mary Magdalene, Milk Street, London on December 1st, 1714. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Guilelmus Wroughton, which was dated 1662, married Marian Winter at St. Martins in the Field, London, during the reign of King Charles II, 'The Merry Monarch', 1660 - 1685. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.